NFT creator Yuga Labs raises $450M, bringing company valuation to $4B

Published at: March 22, 2022

Yuga Labs, the creators of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and new owners of the CryptoPunks and Meebits brands, announced it is now valued at $4 billion after its latest $450 million seed funding round. VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, or a16z, led the company's first institutional investment, marking one of the largest seed rounds for any nonfungible token (NFT) collection to date.

Other investors included Animoca Brands, FTX and MoonPay, as well as LionTree, Sound Ventures and Thrive Capital. The company plans to use the funds to scale its team, attract more creative, engineering and operations talent, as well as for future joint ventures and partnerships.

To celebrate the occasion, Chris Lyons, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, loaned his Bored Ape to a16z, which uploaded it as the firm's new profile picture on Twitter. Lyons tweeted that he will be joining the board of Yuga Labs to help "define the future of culture and innovation." 

Big thanks to @ChrisLyons for loaning us his Ape today. We can’t wait to see what’s next for the @BoredApeYC, Punks, Meebits, and the @yugalabs team.

— a16z (@a16z) March 22, 2022

Nicole Muniz, CEO of Yuga Labs, also stated that "there's a lot to come" given the "new economy" of Apes, Punks, and Meebits Intellectual Property, or IP. Yuga Labs recently bought the IP of CryptoPunks and Meebits from Larva Labs and plans to give full commercial rights to NFT holders.

Cointelegraph first reported about the supposed deal last month when the Financial Times revealed that Yuga Labs was seeking funding for a multi-million dollar stake. While the company may have confirmed its seed round investment on Tuesday, Yuga Labs teased a new metaverse project called Otherside on March 18. 

See you on the Otherside in April. Powered by @apecoin pic.twitter.com/1cnSk1CjXS

— Yuga Labs (@yugalabs) March 19, 2022

The announcement of the Otherside metaverse followed the trading debut of their upcoming marketplace's new cryptocurrency token called ApeCoin. The asset, which was developed and launched by the ApeCoin decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO, experienced wild volatility in its first few hours at market and even affected the average price of the BAYC, Mutant Ape Yacht Club and Bored Ape Kennel Club collections.

Tags
Nft
Business
Funding
Investments
Andreessen Horowitz
Related Posts
Galaxy Interactive raises another $325M fund aimed at metaverse and next-gen games
Galaxy Interactive, a venture capital firm focused on next-generation interactive technology, has announced it has raised $325 million for its second fund from 70 different investors. The fund is focused on virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence and blockchain-based games. In a Tuesday announcement, Galaxy Digital, the majority owner of Galaxy Interactive, stated that $150 million from the fund has already been allocated to new portfolio companies, including Republic, 1047 Games, Elodie, Roar, Art Blocks and Masterworks, with other additional investments to be announced in coming months. Established in 2018 by general partners Sam Englebardt and Richard Kim, the company …
Technology / Oct. 20, 2021
Chainalysis raises $100M in Series E funding led by Coatue
Blockchain analytics company Chainalysis has secured $100 million in Series E financing, bringing its total valuation to a staggering $4.2 billion and highlighting once again the tremendous growth of the cryptocurrency industry. The round was led by global investment manager Coatue, with additional participation from 9Yards Capital, Altimeter, Blackstone, GIC, Pictet, Sequoia Heritage and SVB Capital, Chainalysis announced Thursday. Chainalysis said the funds will go toward expanding its blockchain data capabilities, which includes investing in new data tools, software and APIs. “We believe blockchain data is the asset that can help public and private sector organizations understand the risks and …
Business / June 24, 2021
Andreessen Horowitz leads $23M round for NFT marketplace OpenSea
OpenSea, one of the largest digital collectible marketplaces, has secured backing from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, or a16z, and others in a new funding round. According to Andreessen Horowitz, the firm is leading a $23 million Series A round for OpenSea alongside a16z’s Cultural Leadership Fund, as well as angel investors Ron Conway, Mark Cuban, Tim Ferriss, Belinda Johnson, Naval Ravikant, Ben Silberman, and others. “OpenSea makes NFTs searchable, usable, and organized,” said a16z general partner Katie Haun. “But it goes further and provides a marketplace that brings all platforms together and eases transactions among all parties, the way …
Nft / March 18, 2021
Blockchain startups grow as global VC funding generated $25.2B in 2021
Last year was impressive for blockchain startups, as research from CB Insights found that venture capital funding reached new heights during every quarter of 2021. According to CB Insights’ “State Of Blockchain 2021” report, $25.2 billion worth of venture capital funding went to global blockchain startups last year, demonstrating a 713% increase from $3.1 billion in 2020. The report also found that the United States led the greatest amount of funding deals in Q4 of last year, generating $6.26 billion for 157 deals. The document notes that global growth was driven by increasing consumer and institutional demand for crypto-related products …
Adoption / Feb. 4, 2022
$3B flows to metaverse and Web3 gaming this month as a16z tips in $600M
Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has launched a $600 million fund dedicated to gaming startups with a focus on Web3, saying it believes “Games infrastructure and technologies will be key building blocks of the Metaverse.” Dubbed Games Fund One, the fund will invest in three main areas: game studios, consumer applications — which support player communities, with Discord used as an example — and gaming infrastructure providers. The a16z team said “The coming Metaverse will be built by games companies, using games technologies” and that the industry has already “solved many of the problems that need to be solved …
Technology / May 19, 2022